Theme Of Expectations In Huckleberry Finn

Bailey Hakala

Mrs. Vukmanic

Honors English 10, 4-A

22 April 2014

Exceeding Expectations

In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain writes about Huckleberry, a young boy living during the times of slavery, who decides he would rather go to Hell than give up Jim, a runaway slave (Twain 249-50). This decision to completely desert everything he has ever known and been taught to save Jim, encapsulates Huck’s moral growth throughout the novel. Twain’s novel typifies the elements of the psychological lens based upon Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, and in doing so, demonstrates that real morality does not succumb to society’s pressure. Therefore, this novel belongs in the Western Canon.

In the beginning of the novel, the reader is introduced to a young boy being unwillingly educated and refined by Miss Watson. Mark Twain uses Miss Watson to symbolize society and its demands, “She pronounces the polite lies that suffocate Huck’s spirit” (Marx 365). Huck displays hatred for life at Miss Watson’s and how she believes life should be; she consistently pokes and prods at the way Huck behaves. For instance, Huck gives examples of how Miss Watson treats him on a daily basis, “Miss Watson would say, ‘Don’t put your feet up there, Huckleberry’; and ‘don’t scrunch up like that, Huckleberry – set up straight’” (Twain 5). Huck, being a young, impressionable boy, obeys what Miss Watson says to avoid getting into trouble. According to Kohlberg’s theory, this displays pre-conventional morality, which is found most often in younger children who do not have a clear sense of what morals are; an individual follows rules to avoid punishment or to be rewarded (Daeg de Mott 436). Huck has no idea as to why he should act the way Miss W...

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...ry as the last statement of moral grounds in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, allowing his exodus to resemble a final detestation of the morals of society.

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn does belong in the Western Canon. Throughout the novel, the psychological lens based on Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is fulfilled. Huck begins as a young boy who thinks nothing of slavery or other moral standards set by society and ends as a boy who has realized the institution of slavery is morally unacceptable. Once he declares that instead of doing what society sees as right, that he is going to completely defy what he has been taught, choosing to go to Hell if that is what it takes for his beliefs to be carried out, Huck reaches a state of moral awareness that many people never reach in their lifetime. Huck exceeds the moral expectations.